From Coast to Coast
by Jenivere
Summary: Sophia, a courier from New Vegas, has made the trek to DC. Before she can begin to deliver letters and packages, she decided to try and free a ghoul slave. This is the story of her adventures, mishaps, and journey with her new companion. M for eventual adult situations!
1. Prologue

Prologue

He hadn't ever been the smartest or the most handsome man; time, radiation, and life hadn't helped. He was experienced and knowledgeable in certain areas: combat and gun maintenance. Needed more than a little work on conversational skills and while he could cook food that was edible, don't expect it to taste good. Didn't matter much these days, though. All he did was work as a bouncer. Only skill he got to put to use was his hand to hand combat, but even then no one was much of a challenge. He was wasting away in the rotting rib cage of a dead city museum and all he could do was sit in his contract owner's corner and wait. He was good at waiting. He just didn't know what he was waiting for.


	2. The Mouse

Chapter 1: Mouse

People always say things start off with a bang, but this started off with a creak. She came into The Ninth Circle like a mouse. She opened the door timidly, peeking in to see if anything would attack her. So tiny compared to him, he thought he could snap her in two. As he observed her more carefully though, he saw her small but purposeful steps, her ruck sack packed to the seams with stuff, and a body that was not all that skinny as she came closer. No, she wasn't weak or as breakable as he first thought. Still, with her eyes constantly twitching back and forth, she gave off that prey scent: she was watching for a predator. She had a slight smile on her face, but it looked nervous and forced. Underworld wasn't exactly pleasant and the smell was worse in the small enclosed bar. She looked up at him with dark brown intelligent eyes as she walked past. She stopped before she got to the bar to turn and look at him again. She hesitated before turning towards him and taking quick measured steps toward the back corner of the bar. Now that she was closer he could really see how small she was. She couldn't have been much more than 5 feet tall. She wore an assortment of mismatched attire: an honest-to-god cowboy hat, dusty leather jacket that had seen better days, black top, faded jeans, and combat boots. Her dark hair was braided and wisps trailed around her face. She took off her hat and smoothed a hand over her hair and choppy bangs.

"I reckon your Charon," she said in a smoky voice that washed over him like silk.

"Talk to Azhrukal," he replied looking to his 'boss'. She quirked an eyebrow at him and followed his gaze. She turned back to him and began to open her mouth. "Talk. To. Azhrukal." He looked away hoping ignoring her would get her to listen. She might be a sight for decaying eyes, but he sure as hell wasn't going to get punished for some dame who wouldn't leave him alone.

She cocked her head and heaved a deep sigh that ended in a grimace. She turned on her heel and continued up to the bar where his snake of a 'boss', Azhrukal, greeted her.

Charon was too far away to hear the conversation, but when he heard her ring out a laugh and toss her long brown braid over her shoulder, what was left of his eyebrows lifted as he wondered how much of a mouse she really was. He saw her dump an enormous amount of caps on the counter. Nothing Azhrukal sold cost that much. He could see the smug-ass smile on the bar owner's face as he took out a yellowing scrap of paper.

No. Couldn't be! Azhrukal was going to give away his best defense against the outside world and all threats to this slip of a girl? Must have been a lot of caps for the bastard to part with his body guard and bouncer. Azhrukal was piling the caps up as she turned back towards him looking much more confident.

She gazed down at the paper in her hand. She started to squint then pulled out a pair of glasses from inside her jacket as she neared him. "I'm not really in the slavery business, and this contract sure does sound like slavery." She looked at the paper as he smiled.

"You purchased my contract from Ahzrukhal?" he asked. She made a noise of affirmative, "So, I am no longer in his service. That is good to know. Please wait here while I take care of something," he grinned and walked over to the bar.

Even with glasses on she couldn't make out much from the contract. It seemed like he was bound to follow whoever held the scrap of aged paper and defend them with his life if needed. Hurting him physically made the contract null and void. Seemed like she could give him as much crap as she wanted as long as she kept it to verbal and emotional abuse. "Fun," she scoffed in disgust. She looked up to find her new bodyguard at the bar with his shotgun pointed at his previous employers face. "Aw, shit!" she exclaimed just as Charon painted the wall with Azhrukal's brains. "Just what the hell have you gotten yourself into, Soph?" She stared up at the ceiling and pushed her fingers across her brow bringing her attention back to the faded relic in her hand. As Charon began walking back towards her she asked him, "What the fuck was that all about?"

"Azhrukal was an evil bastard. So long as he held my contract, I was honor bound to do as he commanded. But now you are my employer, which freed me to rid the world of that disgusting rat. And now, for good or ill, I serve you." He looked down at the slip of a woman he was now employed by and tried to get a read on who she was and what life would be like from now on.

"Heh, serve, eh? OK. Well, we need to square this out now. I don't own people. But I have hired a few bodyguards now and then so we'll work with employ. I'll pay you to follow my orders and if you get tired of me, I'll give your contract to whomever you'd like." She turned around and started to walk towards the door before she stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Think it'd be OK to take my money back since that bastard can't use it?" Charon shrugged.

"If you think that's best, mistress."

"Oh, hell no! No, no, no!" His new boss turned around and walked toward him with determination in her step. He tensed up ready for anything. But was surprised by what he got. "I'm not mistress! If I was, you'd be paying me and we'd be in a swanky hotel in New Vegas, hon." Her lips quirked into a devilish smile that went straight below the belt. She seemed to realize what she said and coughed blushing a bit. "Not that I do that sort of thing. I'm a courier. Name's Sophia." She offered him her hand and he just stared at it. People don't shake hands with ghouls. Most of the population thought you could catch ghoulism from physical contact but that wasn't the case. The only way to become a ghoul was just the right amount of radiation over an extended period of time. But that didn't stop people from being ghoulist jerks. Looked like he wouldn't have to deal with that with Sophia. He reached out for her hand and she grabbed it and shook it twice. She smiled up at him and motioned for him to follow. Either this was going to be the best employer he'd ever had, he thought, or this would be the worst as his eyes wandered just below her belt and followed her out the door.


	3. Leather and Cinnamon

Sophia walked out of The Ninth Circle unprepared for the task at hand. Being the hero was why she left New Vegas to begin with. She was in DC to deliver letters and packages, not rescue ghouls from slavery! Fat lot of rescuing she did since she was now a slave owner. She had been told some pretty nasty stories about Ahzrukal from a few of the citizens of Underworld and had proceeded with caution when she had decided to buy Charon out of his contract. She couldn't leave someone who needed help without at least trying: it just wasn't in her nature. Now she was stuck with him. She wouldn't mind having someone watch her back, but how long was he going to be following her orders? Forever? What about what he had done to his old "master"? She liked her brains right were they were, thank you very much! What had she gotten herself into?

She took in a deep breath and coughed at the smell. Ghouls always had a certain sweet rotted meat smell about them. It wasn't real strong, but here in The Natural History Museum it was made worse by the humidity. In New Vegas, most ghouls smelled more like leather or dried jerky. Here they smelled like an old deathclaw den left to fester. She had never thought about it, but was suddenly glad she had met her ghoul friends in the Nevada heat and not in this humid metropolis. She suddenly had a fierce longing to hear her dearest ghoul friend, Raul's take on the ghoul city. He'd make some remark about how he remembered when those bones at the front had roamed the earth and you had to run away from them or be eaten. She glanced back at her new "employee". Would he become as close to her as Raul? Would he ever crack a joke? He didn't look like the joking type.

Of course, looking at him out of the corner of her eye she couldn't help but be impressed by his size and his intimidating posture. He looked like he could take down a Legion army and be home in time for lunch. As she tried to be inconspicuous about giving him a good once over she realized his armor was falling apart. She could fix that easily enough. Maybe.

Meanwhile, Charon couldn't help but try and size up his new employer while she lead them out of the bar and down to the second floor. A courier? He didn't even know mail carriers were still around. Sure, you might ask a caravan merchant to deliver a letter while on his route, but he wouldn't go out of his way to deliver it. More likely the receiver would need to know to seek that merchant out to see if they had a letter for you. But an honest to goodness mailman, err...lady? He hadn't realized how much more developed New Vegas had become. The ghouls and humans that left for New Vegas never came back. Maybe it wasn't because they had died along the way. Maybe some had decided to stay.

Someone opened the atrium door and a slight breeze swept past. When Charon took in a breath, his head cocked and he took another breath in immediately. What was that smell? It stirred up a long forgotten memory from when he was shorter than the courier in front of him. Christmas? She walked into Tulip's shop and Charon followed. As she stopped at the counter he took a chance and stepped a little closer to her. There! The smell WAS coming from her. She opened her pack and he peered into it.

"I got a problem, sugar," the courier drawled. Tulip licked her lips and took a deep breath in as the courier pulled out a stick of some kind.

"I've got a new traveling companion and his clothes have seen better days. Now, I know you said you didn't have any more caps to buy some of this, but I'm sure we could come to an agreement if you had what I was looking for."

Tulip looked thoughtful for a moment before she turned and walked away from her counter to a set of rundown lockers on the far wall.

"I think I might have something that would work." She pulled out some combat armor and a black leather jacket with padding pieced on in different places.

Sophia smiled at both and asked Charon which one he thought would fit.

Charon was a bit puzzled. He wasn't normally consulted when it came to his owner buying something. He walked closer to Tulip and looked at both items. As he reached out for them, Tulip flinched. Charon didn't let it bother him as he pulled the armor and jacket closer to look at. The combat armor was nice. Real nice. He hadn't worn decent armor in years. Sadly, it didn't look like it would fit a man of his breadth and stature. The leather jacket was worn, but clean and looked like it might be large enough.

"Well, are ya gonna try either of them on to see if one of them fits?" the courier asked.

"As you wish, mi-"

"Don't pull that shit again. Name's Sophia. Sophie if you've a mind to," she huffed.

He grunted and took off his old leather armor. He wore a grey shirt underneath that might have been black at some point in its life. Sophia wrinkled her nose as she caught a whiff of him. She remembered Sydney, a ghoul that worked at Gomorrah, telling her that ghouls needed to bath carefully to keep themselves smelling clean while keeping the little skin left attached. He had also mentioned the need to air out and keep dry, but moisturized. He paid her good money for Brahmin milk to soak in. That had been a funny job. He had asked if she wanted to join and although a part of her might have been a little intrigued, she was far too shy and too sober to accept. She knew what would happen if she had- her thoughts stopped as he finished buckling the straps and turned around. His broad shoulders and tapered waist made her want to feel the muscles under that jacket. She turned to Tulip.

"How much?"

Tulip was in a similar state of mind. "Huh?" she tore her gaze from Charon to stare blankly at Sophia. "Oh. Right. The leather jacket costs 200 caps and the armor 250. I'll sell you both for 300 caps and five sticks of that bark."

Sophia looked pensive for a moment.

"If you throw in an undershirt, clean socks, and that box of detergent, I'll accept."

"Deal, smoothskin."

Charon looked at his employer. "I do not think the combat armor will fit."

"We'll use it for scrap ad fix up the jacket so it'll be better protection. Can't have saved you from the beast to have you die by bandits!" Sophia replied as she poured caps and five sticks onto the counter of Underworld Traders. "Thanks, Tulip!" Charon picked up their newly acquired items and followed Sophia for a second time. Sophia. He liked the name.


	4. Honesty and Cigarettes

AN: Yay! I finally updated! Special thanks to my anonymous reviewer (here's some more!), Killergal100 (your review helped kick my butt in gear!), and my hubby (who listens to every chapter as it is being written and throws in his two cents)! Hope you enjoy. You'll notice the romance is slow going, but I promise I have an outline for where this is headed, and it'll be hot!

NOTE: Sorry about the first post. It did something wonky.

Chapter 3 Honesty and Cigarettes

His new employer decided to drop off their stuff by the bed/cubicle she had rented from Carol before getting a bite to eat. He didn't like the way it looked.

As they walked out of the tiny "room" to the dining area, Sophia asked him what he wanted to eat. He turned to look at her and blinked.

"Whatever you think is best." he replied.

"What does that mean?" Sophia asked putting her hand on her hip and stopping to stare up at him.

"Whatever you think is best, I will eat."

"You'll eat whatever I buy? You don't have a preference?" She raised an eyebrow and stared at him. He felt cagey and on edge.

Charon shook his head and replied, "Whatever you think is best."

She shrugged and made to move, but paused. She cocked her head to the side and asked, "Is that how Ahzrukhal treated you?"

"No." Charon took in another breath to speak, but hesitated.

"No?"

He decided honesty would be the best course of action. "At best he chose to provide me with one meal a day. I scavenged the rest."

Sophia looked appalled. She seemed to realize all at once that he was uncomfortable and coughed. "Well, not with me. I like to eat and I don't eat alone when I have a partner. Besides, who can concentrate on much of anything when they're hungry? What do you LIKE to eat? And I swear, if you say 'whatever you think is best', I might murder you." She stared at him with a steely saccharine smile.

Charon blinked. "Uh, meat." He scratched at one of the odd patches of skin and hair left on his head. What else DID he like? "I like InstaMash and apples."

"We can work with that!" She smiled up at him as she took a seat.

Charon stared down at the little courier. She pointed to the seat across from him and began to order their food. As he sat down he tried to remember the last time he had a meal with someone. She was weird. Odd. Had a few screws loose. That had to explain why she acted the way she did. She didn't make sense. Who treated their slave like a partner? As she finished ordering, she started messing around with the pipboy on her wrist.

"So, we've got a few deliveries to run today. It's only 11:00, so we should be able to deliver a few items before supper." She looked up at him with a smile as Greta brought them food.

"Thanks, Greta! It smells great!"

"Yep. Get it while it's lukewarm," she muttered. Greta looked over at Charon and raised her brow. Charon stared hard at the waitress and cook. She huffed and walked away.

"Spam isn't bad, but it isn't my favorite." Sophia began eating her plate of spam and InstaMash while he started in on his steak.

Sophia looked over at him beneath her shaggy bangs in between bites. She noticed he kept glancing at her to ensure he was keeping pace with how fast she was eating. She remembered the time she rescued some slaves from the Legion. She gave them some extra food she carried with her. They ate it like they didn't know where their next meal was coming from. This man didn't. It felt more like an alien trying to figure out how best to fit in with the locals.

"So, where are you from?" Sophia asked.

Charon stopped eating and answered, "I've lived here for most of my...existence."

"Ooookay, sugar. How about, where did ya get that accent from?" Sophia felt like getting information from this man was like pulling the stinger from an adult cazador!

"I grew up on the northeastern shore of the United States. About a week trip from DC."

"Is it near New York City?" Sophia had heard of the large metropolitan area. It had once been a hub for international trade and commerce. Now it was full of yao guai, rad roaches the size of small children, super mutants, and the enclave. Most of it was a crater the size of The Strip and radiated to hell, though. Definitely not a place she wanted to visit.

"Just over the river." They finished eating in silence. Sophia felt like he didn't really want to talk about himself. Before they headed back to her little rented area, she paid Carol for another bed. She knew she'd be tired when she got back and wouldn't want to figure out those sorts of things. Carol told her to just push two beds together and adjust the dividers. Once that was finished she began packing for the day's journey. While she packed she filled the silence with her nervous chatter.

"I'm sure you can tell by my accent I'm from the south. Grew up just outside of Texas. My momma's family grew up in a vault in the Carolinas though. Lots of mean mirelurks and gators! I used to want to see one. Then, when I got the chance to on a job, I could see why my momma left. Daddy grew up NCR. Killed by Legionaires. I ended up moving to New Vegas when I heard about them needing couriers. I was good at traveling and liked seeing new places. But, honestly, all it did was get me into trouble. Seems like trouble follows me like a deathclaw. Luck isn't too bad though." She pushed up her bangs and turned her head at the ghoul.

He grunted when he saw the scar near her hair line.

"Gun shot wound. 9mm?" Charon looked over at the woman sitting on the bed. She was a hell of a lot tougher than she looked...or luck really was on her side. To walk away from a bullet to the head was impressive for anyone.

"Yeah." Sophia let her bangs fall and closed up her pack.

"I was tangled in a horrid mess. Part of the reason I took a few jobs that would take me way out here. I needed to get away from everything. Shall we head out?"

Charon adjusted his new jacket and gave a curt nod.

As they headed out of underworld, Sophia smiled and waved at Willow.

"Hey there darling. Anything you need while I'm gone?" Charon noticed she walked up to the guard with more of a sway in her hip. Did she bat for the other team?

"Don't you try to butter me up, tourist. Just because I helped you that one time..."

"Well, I've always relied on the kindness of," Sophia started flipping her braid over her shoulder, laying it on thick, but Willow was having none of it.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bring me back some cigarettes, tourist." Willow's face was a little redder than usual and she seemed to be brushing what was left of her hair back self-consciously.

"Alrighty!" Sophia smiled and continued walking.

Charon stopped next to Willow as Sophia walked away.

"I swear," Willow said under her breath to Charon as soon as she was out of earshot. "If I didn't think she was equal parts sincere and sarcastic, I'd lay her on the ground and show her what I used to do to sweet little tourists that would come up to visit the capital before the war." Willow pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. "Good luck out there Charon. With that fine ass of hers, you're going to need it."

As Charon jogged to catch up up to her, Sophia looked back at him and smiled. Luck and a steel will, he thought as he heard the bellow of super mutants and readied himself for a fight.


	5. Big With Experience

AN: Squee! Reviews are like the coffee to my creative muse and really make me want to write more! I've got a fairly developed outline for the next few chapters and depending on how much free time I have, I should be able to get the next chapter up before the end of this week! W00T!

Special thanks to my two reviewers, Killergal100 and JacksDirtySecret! You lovelies make me want to keep writing! So chocolate cookies all around!

Chapter 4 Big with Experience

Sophia was sweating in the long Ranger duster she had put on before they left. It fanned out behind her as she jogged toward the Citadel now that it was within sight.

"Oh, I swear this was two hoots and a holler away!" Charon looked at her out of the corner of his eye, easily keeping up with her at a fast walk. She used a lot of those funny sayings. She seemed irked by the amount of time it had taken to get to their first destination.

Sophia had thought it would only take about an hour and a half to get from Underworld to the Citadel; but two wrong turns, a raider camp, and a handful of super mutants flushed her hopes, and them, down the metro. There they had to deal with a dozen or so ferals, too. She was happy to finally see her destination, but more than a little ruffled by the hospitality.

"Keep that zombie on a tight leash."

"That's a big motherfucker."

"Bet it'd take a few slugs to put him down."

Sure, there were ghoulists out west. But she had been around enough to know ghouls were humans and deserved to be treated as such. Most of the people in and around New Vegas were tolerant if not friendly with the ghouls she knew. Hell, people paid good caps to hear Dean Domino sing!

She swore the next time she heard these Brotherhood asshats say one more thing about Charon, she was going to rip them a new one!

"Think his dick's fallen off?" A young Initiate was trying to show off to an older Paladin. The Paladin could see the shit storm the young man had talked himself into, and took a step back as Sophia turned with a thundercloud on her face and lightening in her brown eyes.

"His dick is bigger than yours will ever be! Though, I'm not sure you're done growing yet with how stupid you are, bless your heart. Listen, sugar. If I hear you say one thing about my dear friend, I'll blow your brains into next week if you've got any. Now," turning to the Paladin that had backed away, "if you could tell me where Sarah Lyons is, I'd be much obliged."

The Paladin laughed. "She'll be in A Ring. The door is over there to the right. Sorry about him. Damn Initiates..."

Sophia nodded her head and began heading to the door the Paladin indicated.

Charon stopped in front of the Initiate and stared him down. As he began to walk away, the Paladin cuffed the young man's head and started lecturing him.

"What you didn't notice, maggot, was the NCR issued ranger jacket she was wearing. Now, to walk into a Brotherhood of Steel base without blinking an eye, most would think she was either stupid or she had stolen it. The amount of luck it would take to find one her size means she probably earned it. If she did steal it, that just makes her one tough dame." Yeah, Charon thought, she was one tough dame. He had seen her take down super mutants, ferals, and raiders in the past three hours. She could hold her own easily without him.

The last thing he heard as he followed Sophia into the Citadel made him laugh.

"The weapon isn't the problem, Initiate. You just shoot like my goddamn grandmother. Actually, strike that, my Mrs. Gunny was a deadeye."

As the door shut behind him, Sophia turned and gave him a little smile.

"Did you just laugh?" She could still feel the rough laugh in areas that hadn't seen the light of day for a while. Where the hell did that feeling come from? Well, at least he has a sense of humor. Maybe there was hope for Mr. Stoic, yet!

Charon grunted and brushed past her to the door to A Ring, stopping to let her enter after his eyes swept the room. She entered and found a group of Brotherhood of Steel Knights and Paladins along with their commander. Charon stopped to lean against the door, clearly blocking the exit, while keeping an eye out for anyone that would try to sneak up on them. This place was not safe.

"How can I help you?" A blonde woman with crystal blue eyes and rings underneath that showed her fatigue asked.

"I'm looking for Sarah Lyons."

Standing up in her power armor, the woman before her looked intimidating on purpose. Sophia stood up straight and smiled.

"Good afternoon, I'm a courier from New Vegas. If your Sarah Lyons, a distant relative of yours, Veronica Santangelo, wrote you a letter from New Vegas." Sophia dug the letter out of her sack and handed it to her.

Sarah looked at the girl and her guard. She opened the letter and began to read it.

"It says here that you're her friend?" It was more of a question than a statement.

"Yeah, a pain in the butt at times, but one heck of a fighter with her power fist. Traveled a fair bit together on a few odd jobs. Had to tell her to back off sometimes or everything would have ended up dead!"

"I don't know too much about the politics out west, but last I heard NCR and Brotherhood of Steel weren't too friendly." Several of the Knights and Paladins had stood up and were eyeing her warily, but giving most of their attention to Charon. She had heard Charon stand up and turned to see him standing tall behind her with his arms crossed.

"Huh?" Sophia cocked her head, then looked down at her jacket. "Oh! This thing? I'm not really affiliated with them. I happened on it in my travels. Lucky it fit, you know sugar?" Sarah seemed reluctant to accept the answer but continued reading the letter anyway.

"So, she doesn't agree with the politics. That's why we moved out east when I was a kid."

"She could use a change of scenery. Maybe see that not all Brotherhood of Steel members are in it for themselves? She enjoys helping people. Plus, she could yao guai hunt with a stick!"

"Well, I'm about to head out on patrols. Will you be around tomorrow? I'd like to send a letter back, but I'd like to talk to my father first." Looking at the short courier, Sarah couldn't imagine how hard a trip like that would be. Made sense to have a big ghoul for protection. Probably kept most people from attacking just at the sight of him. The courier herself didn't look all that intimidating.

"Well, I have a few more stops today. How long will it take me to get to Rivet City?"

"At least two hours if you don't run in to any trouble, which you will. Lyon's Pride is heading to the Washington Monument. You can tag along. We can split up after we cross the bridge. That's about half way there at least."

"The monument? Is that where..." Sophia fiddled with her pipboy, "GNR is located?"

"No. But I'll be stopping by there later, why?"

"I have a letter updating GNR on news from the west. It's from Mr. New Vegas. He's our radio personality. Plus, I have some songs downloaded on my pipboy that the broadcaster can use."

"I'd love to hear new songs. Getting tired of Butcher Pete!" A broad shouldered, dark skinned man sneered.

"Sure, Kodiak. We all know it's your favorite," another man in full power armor laughed.

Surprisingly, they didn't see too much trouble on their way to the Washington Monument. Lyon's Pride was fast, efficient, and deadly. In a little under an hour they were half way to Rivet City and saying goodbye.

"Well, I'll leave you the update for GNR and be on my way. I'll try to stop by tomorrow before noon. I like to be up early if possible. Thanks again for all of your help." Sophia handed the letter to Sarah and made to leave.

"Just a question, courier?" Sarah asked. "How long does the trip from here to New Vegas take?"

"About 4 weeks if you don't run into too many deathclaws and yao guai! There's a train that cuts across most of Texas and a boat that takes you up some of the Mississippi. For the most part it depends on if there's a Caravan you can travel with on the way." Sarah nodded in understanding. Sophia smiled and waved goodbye as Lyon's Pride continued toward the monument.

"Well, they're not all bad people," Sophia thought out loud. "Few of them were goobers, but most of them were pretty nice."

As they neared the Jefferson Memorial, two Brotherhood of Steel Initiates were standing around looking bored. As they saw her and Charon walking past, they elbowed each other, laughing. They called out to her.

"Hey. You don't have to slum it with that fucker. I've got a real shotgun for you right here!" The Initiate grabbed the front plate of his armor between his legs.

The second Initiate started humping the air. "Yeah, mine's fully loaded baby. I'm not shooting blanks like that shuffler!"

Sophia hated men who were all hat and no brahmin, as her daddy used to call it. Boasting at people just walking by seemed to be a past time of all young men.

She tried to ignore it. She really tried to ignore it. Her eyes slid over to Charon and found him staring stoutly ahead. For some reason that pissed her off and made her more angry at the idiots.

"Sorry, I prefer men that can handle their weapons. Experience and size matter a lot to a lady! Go peddle your produce somewhere else!" She yelled over her shoulder as they continued walking.

She thought that would be the end of it, but one of the men decided to take a pot shot at the ground near Charon.

"Oooh! Charon, should we shoot back? Or leave it be?" She looked at him with her hand on her laser pistol.

"No, Sophia, that would be a waste of perfectly good ammunition!" Sophia threw back her head and cackled wickedly. She gave Charon a smirk and nodded.

The rest of the way was uneventful, which was probably a good thing. Charon's head swam with confusing thoughts. When was the last time someone stood up for him? How should he react to it? Should he say something? She seemed to be as quick with a comeback, as she was with a smile and a laugh. He was trying desperately not to get his hopes up.

As they finally neared Rivet City, Charon turned to his new employer, rubbing is head and what little hair he had left in a habit he had never been able to break. What the hell, this would be the perfect time to test the waters of their employee relationship.

Charon stopped walking and took in a deep breath and coughed. "So, I'm big and experienced, eh?" He felt slightly embarrassed for saying it. Luck seemed to be with them on the trip, so he thought he'd push to see how far it could get him.

Sophia blushed from the roots of her hair and Charon thought, if he could see, she'd be blushing down to her toes.

Sophia stopped at the bottom of the stairs to Rivet City and turned to face him. "Well, you ARE big. Besides, I've seen you use that shotgun. Makes a girl blush and imagine what else you can do with those hands." Sophia ducked her head and rushed up the stairs.

He was a ghoul. A fuckin' rotting shuffler. Women didn't flirt with him. Well, that wasn't quite true. He remembered how Tulip would come into the Ninth Circle and stare at him. A few times she talked to Azhrukal about his contract, but never had enough money to buy him. She would wave or say goodbye to him, but not much more. Did that count as flirting? Once a ghoul hooker came from The Pitts. She had struck a deal with Azhrukal for the week she was staying. Every damn ghoul in Underworld started scraping caps together to fuck her. Several times she would sit in his corner and flirt with him. Tell him he looked so "big and strong" and "I bet you know how to please a woman". Azhrukal never let him "touch the merchandise" but it still boosted what little male pride he had left.

Now, here was a little slip of a woman flirting with him. A smoothskin! Charon shook his head and followed after her. He didn't think he really had a chance with her, but to think they might have a decent working relationship was more than he could ever hope for in an owner. But still, maybe her brand of crazy took longer to notice. He'd wait and see what luck had in store for him this time around.


End file.
